April 21, 2007

Fossil Fuels 3 - The Bottom of the Barrel

This is the second part of my review, as yet unpublished, on Colin Campbell's book Oil Crisis. The earlier half, which focuses more narrowly on the energy issues rather than Dr Campbell's political views, is to be found here.

Offering his views on immigration, Campbell acknowledges that this can invite controversy in our politically correct age: “Mention of migration is a delicate issue leading to accusations of racism, which has become formally an illegal activity.” Nevertheless, he plunges in: “Personally, I have no hesitation to admit to being a racist...In an expanding world there might be room for everyone, but in a contracting one it makes sense for each tribe to look after itself as well as it can. Already, the indigenous Dutch find themselves almost outnumbered in their overcrowded home, being now forced to emigrate in increasing numbers to places like Australia, having been squeezed out by newcomers.” (p.296)
Among other highlights, in chapter 8, US vice-president Dick Cheney is assigned the responsibility for planning 9/11 (“the double simulation”), with airliners flown by remote control into the World Trade Center [note US spelling!] and the Pentagon (Obviously, his aim, after he accidentally shot a friend while hunting, appears not to be good enough for this to be the case). I was also surprised to learn that the Al Qaida leader, rather than hiding from the Americans in remote areas of Pakistan, had met with the CIA in Dubai in 2000 and “was easily controlled” (p.192) and may instead be “living happily in Freetown, Sierra Leone” (p.208).
Elsewhere, he dismisses Afghanistan’s elected post-Taliban government as a “puppet regime” (p.192) and writes in admiring tones of the bombings carried out by Iraqi “patriots” (p.126).
He also cites an article “Zionism and American Jews” by Alfred Lilienthal, published in 1981, “A key work on this subject…explains the role of the powerful Jewish lobby in Washington”, (note 9, p. 208). There is no further details given in the bibliography, but this appears to refer to an article first published by the Instite for Historical Review, by an author of the same name with the same title also published in 1981, in the Institute’s Journal of Historical Review. The Institute is a study and publishing group which promotes the work of prominent Holocaust deniers such as David Irving.
For Labour, Sweden might be a model, for the PDs, Hong Kong. Like Sargent, Campbell plumps for Cuba, where “force of circumstance has imposed a self-sustainable life-pattern” (p.198). However, he neglects to mention that Fidel Casto’s unique mixture of Stalinism and sex tourism is sustained by a fraternal gift from Hugo Chávez of Venezuela of some 90,000 barrels of crude every day, worth some six million dollars at current prices.
All in all, the influence accorded to this eccentric individual shows that, thanks to the Greens, whatever happens to oil, Ireland in years to come will see no shortage of bullshit.
Peter Nolan was, for a time, a notably unsuccessful energy trader.